FTC Supports Daily Value of Trans Fat on Labels

The Federal Trade Commission has signaled its support to include the recommended maximum amount of trans fat that a consumer should eat in a single day on food labels.

The FTC’s Bureaus of Consumer Protection and Economics and Office of Policy Planning told the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Food and Drug Administration that the Daily Value for trans fat information should be included on labels.

“The development of a DV for trans fat by the FDA would be an important step in providing consumers with information to make better informed food choices,” Howard Beales, the director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a statement.

The FTC’s comment supports the FDA’s efforts to develop a DV for trans fat. The FDA has already said that the amount of trans fats will be required to appear on labels as of January 2006.

Adding trans fat content data to food labels signals the first significant change the Food and Drug Administration has required for the Nutrition Facts panel since it was established in 1993.

Trans fats will be listed directly under the line for saturated fat. Scientific evidence, which showed that consuming trans fats, saturated fat and dietary cholesterol increases the risk of coronary heart disease, was the impetus for instituting the labeling change.

How the percent DVs for trans fat would be presented on labels is under discussion, an FTC spokesperson said.